SaskatoonThe case of two Saskatoon cops fighting to get their jobs back has become more complicated. Constables Dylan Kemp and Jason Garland were fired in September. Their lawyer appealed — but didn’t file the papers properly.Notice not sent to commission responsible for hearing appealDan Zakreski · CBC News · Posted: Dec 05, 2025 2:27 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 2 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench. (CBC)Lawyer Steve Seiferling says in a court filing it happened, “through error of counsel.”He represents former Saskatoon police constables Dylan Kemp and Jason Garland. They were fired Sept. 3 after an investigation related to an off-duty house party.3 Saskatoon police officers fired after investigation into ‘off-duty gathering’On Sept. 11, Seiferling filed appeal notices with the Saskatoon Police Service and the police union, but not with the Saskatchewan Police Commission.The commission is the body responsible for hearing appeals. That means the officers missed their 30-day window to appeal their dismissals.The timeline of what went wrong is laid out in documents filed at Court of King’s in Saskatoon. On Dec. 9, Seiferling will try to get a judge to tell the police commission to designate a hearing officer.”Through error of counsel, the appeals were not provided to the Commission on September 11, 2025,” Seiferling wrote in his court filing.Seiferling then takes issue with the police commission and Ministry of Corrections and Public Safety.”The Ministry and the Commission have each claimed that neither has jurisdiction to make the appointment, and have erred, and caused confusion, by failing to recognize jurisdiction, and make the appointment,” he wrote.The counsel for the police commission says it’s not confusing at all.”[The Police Act] statute creates a two-step process for the appointment of a hearing officer in appeals under s. 61(1). First, one must submit a notice of appeal to the office of the Commission within 30 days,” Charita Ohashi wrote in a brief of law.”Second, the minister designates a hearing officer to hear the matter. The extent of the Commission’s involvement in any such appeal is to act as the registry for filing of a notice of appeal.”Ohashi added that it’s “misguided” to suggest that the commission may simply appoint a hearing officer.ABOUT THE AUTHORDan Zakreski is a reporter in Saskatoon.
Lawyer for 2 fired Saskatoon cops botches filing of appeal notices
